Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla will inaugurate Parliamentary Outreach Programme for the Empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir on 31 August, 2021 (Tuesday) here.
Besides Birla, Union Minister of State (IC) for the Ministries of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office; Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space Dr. Jitendra Singh; Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir Manoj Sinha; Union Minister of State Prahlad Singh Parel; Members of Parliament; Former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Nirmal Kumar Singh and other eminent dignitaries will grace the occasion.
The Parliamentary Outreach Programme for the Empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions is a unique initiative of Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla.
A first of its kind Programme, it is intended to strengthen the institution of governance and planning at the grass-root level.
The first such Outreach Programme was organized at Dehradun in Uttarakhand on 8th January, 2021. The Programme was physically attended by 445 Panchayat representatives. In addition, approximately 40,000 Panchayat representatives and officials were connected to the programme online via web link.
The second Outreach Programme was organized at Shillong on 26 February, 2021 for the State of Meghalaya and other North Eastern States. Around 115 members of the local bodies of North Eastern States physically attended the programme. Besides, a large number of participants from all of the North Eastern States joined the programme through online mode.
The third such programme in the series was recently organized for the grass root level institutions of the Union Territory of Ladakh on 27 August, 2021. Around 195 number of Panchayat representatives attended the programme.
The fourth such programme is scheduled to be organized for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir on 31 August, 2021 at Srinagar. The theme of the programme is “Parliamentary Outreach Programme for the Empowerment of the Panchayati Raj Institutions”.
The broad objectives of the programme include create mass awareness/mass participation, create self confidence/self respect for the ground level leaders, creation of sense of ownership of the assets that have been created, fuelling the ambitions for grass root political leaders for democratic values, creating the awareness about the various schemes and the doorstep delivery – opportunities for development work, opportunity to develop a network and push the aspirational level of the ground level leadership.
Birla will also visit Pahalgam and Gulmarg to meet the Panchayat representatives.
Delegates have already started arriving at Srinagar for the programme.
Talking to reporters, Birla said that the Outreach initiative of the Parliament is a step towards capacity building and improving accountability and transparency of the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Lauding the development initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir, Birla said the comprehensive action plan of development will prosper the UT and the fruits of development will reach the last man standing in the row.